1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems having multiple instruction sets and configuration data associated with the mechanism for executing one of the instruction sets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide data processing systems, such as Thumb enabled processors produced by ARM Limited of Cambridge, England, which support multiple instruction sets.
A further type of data processing system that supports multiple instruction sets is one that has a processor having a native instruction set and a Java acceleration mechanism seeking to execute Java bytecodes. A complication that arises with such systems is that the Java Virtual Machines that operate in conjunction with such Java acceleration mechanisms can vary considerably and require significant differences in the way in which the Java acceleration mechanisms are configured. This factor when combined with a situation in which a single system may be using multiple Java Virtual Machines operating in different processes has the result that the operating system needs to control the configuration of the Java acceleration mechanism to suit whichever particular Java Virtual Machine is executing at a particular point in time. In order to deal with this, existing operating systems require modification to handle this management function. Furthermore, there is a wide variation in the amount of configuration data that is needed for different Java acceleration mechanisms and so it is difficult to efficiently provide operating system mechanisms for managing this configuration data.